1
1Ch 21:1-13.
英文原文
1Ch 21:1-13.
DAVID SINS IN NUMBERING THE PEOPLE.
1. Satan stood up against Israel--God, by withdrawing His grace at this time from David (see on
2Sa 24:1),
permitted the tempter to prevail over him. As the result of this successful temptation was the entail of a heavy calamity as a punishment from God upon the people, it might be said that "Satan stood up against Israel."
number Israel--In the act of taking the census of a people, there is not only no evil, but much utility. But numbering Israel--that people who were to become as the stars for multitude, implying a distrust of the divine promise, was a sin; and though it had been done with impunity in the time of Moses, at that enumeration each of the people had contributed "half a shekel towards the building of the tabernacle," that there might be no plague among them when he numbered them
(Ex 30:12).
Hence the numbering of that people was in itself regarded as an undertaking by which the anger of God could be easily aroused; but when the arrangements were made by Moses for the taking of the census, God was not angry because the people were numbered for the express purpose of the tax for the sanctuary, and the money which was thus collected ("the atonement money,"
Ex 30:16)
appeased Him. Everything depended, therefore, upon the design of the census [BERTHEAU]. The sin of David numbering the people consisted in its being either to gratify his pride to ascertain the number of warriors he could muster for some meditated plan of conquest; or, perhaps, more likely still, to institute a regular and permanent system of taxation, which he deemed necessary to provide an adequate establishment for the monarchy, but which was regarded as a tyrannical and oppressive exaction--an innovation on the liberty of the people--a departure from ancient usage unbecoming a king of Israel.
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3. 为何使以色列人陷在罪里呢?——或给以色列招致惩罚的因由。在希伯来文中,「罪」一词常与「罪的刑罚」同义。在神的护理之下,百姓常因其统治者的失德而受苦。
英文原文
3. why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?--or bring an occasion of punishment on Israel. In Hebrew, the word "sin" is often used synonymously with the punishment of sin. In the course of Providence, the people frequently suffer for the misconduct of their rulers.
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5. 约押将数点百姓的总数奏告大卫——以色列能拿兵器的人数共计一百一十万,包括那三十万常备军
(1Ch 27:1-9),
因已征入王的事奉,故未计入
(2Sa 24:9);
犹大则为四十七万人,其中未计那驻防非利士边境、作为监视部队的三万人
(2Sa 6:1)。
如此早期的人口数目,考虑到该地幅员有限,并与早先的人口统计
(Nu 26:1-65)
相较,乃是应许
(Ge 15:5)
得应验的有力明证。
英文原文
5. Joab gave the sum of the number of the children of Israel--It amounted to one million one hundred thousand men in Israel, capable of bearing arms, inclusive of the three hundred thousand military
(1Ch 27:1-9),
which, being already enlisted in the royal service, were not reckoned
(2Sa 24:9),
and to four hundred seventy thousand men in Judah, omitting thirty thousand which formed an army of observation stationed on the Philistine frontier
(2Sa 6:1).
So large a population at this early period, considering the limited extent of the country and comparing it with the earlier census
(Nu 26:1-65),
is a striking proof of the fulfilment of the promise
(Ge 15:5).
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6. 惟独利未人和便雅悯人他没有数点——若此次人口统计是为征税而设,仅此一项便足以说明利未人不被数点的原因,因他们不是战士
(1Ch 21:5),
(参
Nu 1:47-54)。
便雅悯的人口已经统计过
(参
1Ch 7:6-11),
其名册保存在该支派的档案中。但这是在另一时机、由约押以外的人经办的。这两个支派之未被数点,可能源于神特殊的恩典护理:一方面因为利未人献身于神的事奉,而便雅悯已成为最小的支派
(Jud 21:1-25);
另一方面因神预见他们在支派分裂时将对大卫家忠心耿耿,故不愿使他们人数减少[POOLE]。从这次巡查所循的路线来看
(参
2Sa 24:4-8),
犹大和便雅悯似乎是最后要巡视的支派;犹大的人口统计既毕,约押在进入便雅悯之前须返回耶路撒冷,在那里王此时深悔自己的大错,下令停止一切后续工作。不仅约押起初的劝阻,就连他在巡查中缓慢的进度
(2Sa 24:8)
都表明这位老将军对这一违宪举措的强烈反感乃至厌恶。
英文原文
6. Levi and Benjamin counted he not--If this census was ordered with a view to the imposition of taxes, this alone would account for Levi, who were not warriors
(1Ch 21:5),
not being numbered (see on
Nu 1:47-54).
The population of Benjamin had been taken (see on
1Ch 7:6-11),
and the register preserved in the archives of that tribe. This, however, was taken on another occasion, and by other agency than that of Joab. The non-numbering of these two tribes might have originated in the special and gracious providence of God, partly because Levi was devoted to His service, and Benjamin had become the least of all the tribes
(Jud 21:1-25);
and partly because God foresaw that they would remain faithful to the house of David in the division of the tribes, and therefore He would not have them diminished [POOLE]. From the course followed in this survey (see on
2Sa 24:4-8),
it would appear that Judah and Benjamin were the last tribes that were to be visited; and that, after the census in Judah had been finished, Joab, before entering on that of Benjamin, had to return to Jerusalem, where the king, now sensible of his great error, gave orders to stop all further proceedings in the business. Not only the remonstrance of Joab at the first, but his slow progress in the survey
(2Sa 24:8)
showed the strong repugnance and even horror of the old general at this unconstitutional measure.
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9. 耶和华吩咐大卫的先见迦得——大卫虽自己也有预言的恩赐,但在涉及自己或其国的事上,他惯于借祭司为媒介求问耶和华;若他未能如此行,便有先知在非常时刻被差来警戒或惩治他。迦得是他私下的一位朋友,偶尔被用为这些预言信息的传递者。
英文原文
9. the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer--Although David was himself endowed with a prophetic gift, yet, in matters relating to himself or his kingdom, he was in the habit of consulting the Lord through the medium of the priests; and when he failed to do so, a prophet was sent on extraordinary occasions to admonish or chastise him. Gad, a private friend, was occasionally employed as the bearer of these prophetic messages.
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11, 12. 你可以选择,等——对应那三样灾祸,有极为优美的对应:三年、三个月、三天[BERTHEAU]。 (参
2Sa 24:13)。
英文原文
11, 12. Choose thee, &c.--To the three evils these correspond in beautiful agreement: three years, three months, three days [BERTHEAU]. (See on
2Sa 24:13).
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13. 我愿落在耶和华的手里……不愿落在人的手里——经验教会他:人的激情与报复毫无限度,而我们在天上那智慧而满有恩惠的父,却知道每一个人所需受的惩治是哪一种,也限定其程度。
英文原文
13. let me fall now into the hand of the Lord . . . let me not fall into the hand of man--Experience had taught him that human passion and vengeance had no bounds, whereas our wise and gracious Father in heaven knows the kind, and regulates the extent, of chastisement which every one needs.
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14, 15. 于是耶和华……差遣使者去毁灭耶路撒冷——此处只记瘟疫之灾的降临,未述其持续之久或为害之烈,却对灭命使者的可见显现与威吓姿态作了细致的描述。
英文原文
14, 15. So the Lord . . . sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it--The infliction only of the pestilence is here noticed, without any account of its duration or its ravages, while a minute description is given of the visible appearance and menacing attitude of the destroying angel.
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15. 站在耶布斯人阿珥楠的禾场那里——阿珥楠大概是他的希伯来名(犹太名),亚劳拿是他的耶布斯(迦南)名。他是否是耶布斯的旧王——因为
(2Sa 24:23)
赋予他这一头衔——尚不可知,但他已归依敬拜真神,且拥有产业与影响力。
英文原文
15. stood by the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite--Ornan was probably his Hebrew or Jewish, Araunah his Jebusite or Canaanitish, name. Whether he was the old king of Jebus, as that title is given to him
(2Sa 24:23),
or not, he had been converted to the worship of the true God, and was possessed both of property and influence.
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16. 大卫和长老……身穿麻衣,脸伏于地——他们以谦卑悔罪者的装束与姿态出现,承认自己的罪,恳求神止息怒气。
英文原文
16. David and the elders . . . clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces--They appeared in the garb and assumed the attitude of humble penitents, confessing their sins, and deprecating the wrath of God.
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1Ch 21:18-30.
1Ch 21:18-30.
他筑坛
18. 耶和华的使者吩咐迦得说——关于筑坛的命令,以及指定坛的位置,在
(2Sa 24:18)
被描述为迦得直接带来的。此处则告诉我们先知的使命来自何方。只有在以色列历史的较后阶段,我们才发现天使被用来向先知传达神的旨意。
英文原文
1Ch 21:18-30.
HE BUILDS AN ALTAR.
18. the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to say--The order about the erection of an altar, as well as the indication of its site, is described
(2Sa 24:18)
as brought directly by Gad. Here we are informed of the quarter whence the prophet got his commission. It is only in the later stages of Israel's history that we find angels employed in communicating the divine will to the prophets.
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20, 21. 阿珥楠正在打麦子——若人口统计始于秋季,即民事年度之初,其所用的九个半月便在麦收时节结束。打谷的常见方法是将谷物铺在高平的场地上,用两头牛拉着一具笨重的耙——耙有三个滚筒和一些尖钉——在其上来回碾轧。赶牛的人跪坐在箱上,另有一人负责将稻草拨回,使稻草与下面的谷粒分离。如此操作,谷壳被切得很碎,谷粒也就打出来了。
英文原文
20, 21. Ornan was threshing wheat--If the census was entered upon in autumn, the beginning of the civil year, the nine and a half months it occupied would end at wheat harvest. The common way of threshing corn is by spreading it out on a high level area, and driving backwards and forwards upon it two oxen harnessed to a clumsy sledge with three rollers and some sharp spikes. The driver sits on his knees on the box, while another person is employed in drawing back the straw and separating it from the grain underneath. By this operation the chaff is very much chopped, and the grain threshed out.
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23. 我将……打粮的器具当柴——即用以焚烧献为祭的牛。在本国(英国)很难理解所献之礼的真正意义——其急切与价值。这供物是为即时使用而献的。阿珥楠盼望片刻不延地止息瘟疫,因此「将一切都献上」——牛、大型打谷机,以及麦子。
英文原文
23. I give thee . . . the threshing instruments for wood--that is, to burn the sacrifice of the oxen. Very little real import--the haste and the value of the present offered--can be understood in this country. The offering was made for instant use. Ornan, hereby hoping to terminate the pestilence without a moment's delay, "gave all," oxen, the large threshing machine, and the wheat.
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25. 大卫……为那块地平了六百舍客勒金子——起先他只买了牛和打粮的器具,为此付了五十舍客勒银子
(2Sa 24:24);
后来他买下了整块产业——摩利亚山,即将来圣殿所在之处。在山的高台中央高耸着一块奇特的磐石,如今被「萨克拉」圆顶所覆盖。它形状不规则,一个方向约六十尺,另一个方向约五十尺。这是摩利亚山的天然表面,许多人认为它就是亚劳拿禾场的磐石,为大卫所选,并为所罗门和所罗巴伯沿用,作为建造祭坛的「未凿之石」[BARTLETT, Walks about Jerusalem; STANLEY]。
英文原文
25. David gave . . . for the place six hundred shekels of gold--At first he bought only the cattle and the threshing instruments, for which he paid fifty shekels of silver
(2Sa 24:24);
afterwards he purchased the whole property, Mount Moriah, on which the future temple stood. High in the center of the mountain platform rises a remarkable rock, now covered by the dome of "the Sakrah." It is irregular in its form, and measures about sixty feet in one direction and fifty feet in the other. It is the natural surface of Mount Moriah and is thought by many to be the rock of the threshing-floor of Araunah, selected by David, and continued by Solomon and Zerubbabel as "the unhewn stone" on which to build the altar [BARTLETT, Walks about Jerusalem; STANLEY].
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26. 大卫在那里筑了一座坛——他与主要臣仆排成行列,从王宫出发,下锡安山,穿过中间的城区。虽然他自己的产业上有足够的空间,他却受命在明确的指示之下,离家相当一段距离,上摩利亚山,在他必须购买的地上筑坛。这地点正是或靠近亚伯拉罕献以撒之处。
从天上降火应允他——(见
Le 9:24; 1Ki 18:21-23; 2Ki 1:12; 2Ch 7:1)。
英文原文
26. David built there an altar--He went in procession with his leading men from the royal palace, down Mount Zion, and through the intervening city. Although he had plenty of space on his own property, he was commanded, under peremptory direction, to go a considerable distance from his home, up Mount Moriah, to erect an altar on premises which he had to buy. It was on or close to the spot where Abraham had offered up Isaac.
answered him by fire from heaven--(See
Le 9:24; 1Ki 18:21-23; 2Ki 1:12; 2Ch 7:1).
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28. 大卫见耶和华应允他……就在那里献祭——或作「他继续在那里献祭」。既见他的祭蒙悦纳,他便在那里继续献上更多的祭,并借祷告与赎罪之礼寻求恩眷;因为那灭命的使者在他前往基遍敬拜中心之时威胁耶路撒冷的恐惧,尤其是对神的敬畏,促使他继续在那神已
(2Ch 3:1)
以其同在与恩悦的记号分别为圣之处敬拜。
英文原文
28. when David saw that the Lord had answered him . . ., he sacrificed there--or, "he continued to sacrifice there." Perceiving his sacrifice was acceptable, he proceeded to make additional offerings there, and seek favor by prayer and expiatory rites; for the dread of the menacing angel destroying Jerusalem while he was absent in the center of worship at Gibeon, especially reverence for the Divine Being, led him to continue his adorations in that place which God
(2Ch 3:1)
had hallowed by the tokens of His presence and gracious acceptance.
1Ch 21:1-13.
大卫数点百姓之罪
1. 撒但起来攻击以色列人——神此时撤回了对大卫的恩典
(参
2Sa 24:1),
任凭那试探者胜过他。由于这一成功的试探所带来的结果,是神降下重灾惩罚百姓,因此可以说「撒但起来攻击以色列人」。
数点以色列人——就普查人口而言,不仅没有邪恶,反而大有裨益。但数点以色列——这一将如众星般繁多的百姓,暗含对神应许的不信,便成了罪;虽然在摩西时代曾安然行之,但当时每次人口统计中,百姓各献「半舍客勒作为建造会幕之用」,使数点他们时不致有灾祸
(Ex 30:12)。
因此,数点这百姓本身就被视为易惹动神怒的举动;但当摩西安排人口统计时,神并不发怒,因为数点百姓是专为圣所税捐而设,这样收取的钱(「赎罪银」
Ex 30:16)
平息了神的怒气。因此,一切都取决于统计的目的[BERTHEAU]。大卫数点百姓之罪,在于此举或为满足其骄傲,要查明自己为某一筹划中的征服计划所能调集的战士人数;或更可能的是,要建立一套经常而永久的征税制度,他视此为供给王室充足经费所必需,却被视为暴政与苛索——是对百姓自由的侵犯——是有失以色列君王身份、背离古制的创新之举。